BROOKLYN

ACTORS, WRITERS JOIN BOARD FIGHTING PROPOSED SPORTS ARENA

Prominent actors, writers, and other boldfaced names have joined forces in an effort to thwart the proposed sports arena, commercial, and residential complex that real estate developer Forest City Ratner wants to build near downtown Brooklyn. “Brokeback Mountain” stars Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams; actress Rosie Perez, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri are among those named to the new 33-member advisory board of Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn. The board is charged with raising awareness about the project’s pitfalls. The organization contends that erecting a 20,000-seat Nets basketball stadium and a slew of high-rise buildings would mar the character of the Prospect Heights neighborhood. Proponents of the development plan, spearheaded by Nets owner, Bruce Ratner, include Governor Pataki, Mayor Bloomberg, and Brooklyn Borough president, Marty Markowitz. They say the development will create thousands of jobs and, ultimately, bring in billions of dollars in tax revenues.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

STATEWIDE

10 SOLDIERS KILLED IN FRIDAY HELICOPTER CRASH

FORT DRUM – Ten Fort Drum soldiers were killed in Friday’s helicopter crash in Afghanistan, a base spokesman confirmed yesterday. It was the deadliest day for Fort Drum soldiers since March 11, 2003, when a chopper crash on post killed 11 soldiers. The names and units of the soldiers in the 10th Mountain Division will not be released for several days, a Fort Drum spokesman, Benjamin Abel, said yesterday.

– Associated Press

LAWMAKERS CALL FOR CRACKDOWN ON FAKE POLICE BADGES

Citing a spate of attempted abductions in Brooklyn by a man who poses as a police officer, two New York lawmakers pressed Justice Department officials to crack down on those trafficking fake police badges. Reps. Anthony Weiner and Jerrold Nadler said that obtaining fake police credentials has not become more difficult since January, when President Bush signed into law legislation that prohibits the sale of police badges for recreational use. The lawmakers pointed to at least five cases in Brooklyn that police are investigating, where a man allegedly lures young girls into his car by displaying police paraphernalia. In at least one such case on April 28, the suspect reportedly displayed a badge to the 10-year-old victim, who managed to escape after he exposed himself and began touching her, police said. “No criminal should be able to use a badge to impersonate a police officer and take advantage of an unsuspecting victim,” Mr. Nadler said.

– Special to the Sun

NEW YORK’S FINEST TO LAUD SPITZER The state attorney general and a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Eliot Spitzer, will receive the Law Enforcement Man of the Year Award from New York’s Finest Foundation and will be endorsed by the state’s correction officers’ union today. Mr. Spitzer’s hand-chosen running mate, a state senator, David Paterson of Harlem, has come under criticism for supporting bills that are not favored by the law enforcement community, including one dubbed the “shoot to wound” bill. Mr. Paterson has reversed his position on some of those bills, and explained that some were issued years ago in order to raise the issue of police brutality.

– Staff Reporter of the Sun

ALBANY

DESPITE OVERALL INCREASE, GROUPS SAY HEALTH FUNDING BEING CUT

The emotional radio and TV ads are everywhere: A neonatal nurse in one, a mother holding her infant son in another, all asking how Albany could cut funding for health care. “How could they cut back on a face like that?” said one mother of her child. While the ads talk about cuts in health care spending, spending on Medicaid in this year’s $112.1 billion state budget will increase by $1.4 billion. The Greater New York Hospital Association and the 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers union acknowledge that funding for health care is rising under the final state budget, but say specific spending for hospitals and nursing homes is being reduced by $163 million.

– Associated Press

POLICE BLOTTER

TWO DIE IN BROOKLYN CAR CRASH Two people died in a Brooklyn car crash early yesterday morning, police said. Tesfa Smith, 20, of Brooklyn lost control of a borrowed Honda Accord near the intersection of Nostrand Avenue and Maple Street in Flatbush around 2 a.m. The car subsequently hit three other vehicles, injuring Smith and his passenger, Jalani Griffiths, 22, of Herkimer, N.Y., police said. Both men were taken to Kings County Hospital, where they were pronounced dead.

– Special to the Sun

DIPLOMAT STOPPED FOR DRUNK DRIVING ISSUED SUMMONSES

A Moroccan diplomat stopped by police yesterday for drunk driving was released with several summonses, becoming the second diplomat in recent weeks to avoid arrest by means of diplomatic immunity. Abdelmajid Amrani Nadjar, 37, was pulled over yesterday morning around 8 a.m. after police saw him weaving through traffic on East 46th Street near First Avenue, police said. After a Breathalyzer test administered in the field determined Mr. Nadjar was intoxicated, officers brought him back to the station house. Mr. Nadjar, who police said was driving a silver Honda Civic with diplomatic license plates at the time of the incident, was issued three summonses, including driving while intoxicated, reckless driving, and failure to signal lane change. No one was injured in the incident. Mr. Nadjar works as the second secretary to the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Morocco to the United Nations, according to a U.N. directory listing. Last night, a spokesperson from the Moroccan mission could not be reached for comment.

– Special to the Sun